General News
19 January, 2023
Police investigate break ins at Maryborough IGA and Toyota
The quick thinking of a local farmer saw Maryborough Toyota recover two stolen cars this week as police continue to investigate the burglary of the car dealership and a local supermarket. The break ins occurred in the early hours of Tuesday morning...
The quick thinking of a local farmer saw Maryborough Toyota recover two stolen cars this week as police continue to investigate the burglary of the car dealership and a local supermarket.
The break ins occurred in the early hours of Tuesday morning at both Maryborough’s IGA and Toyota, Goldfields Crime Investigation Unit Detective Senior Constable Ben Manning said.
“Three offenders broke into the IGA and Toyota. Two vehicles were taken from Toyota and ended up being found towards Ballarat,” he said.
“Nothing was taken from the IGA.”
Maryborough Toyota’s Carl Spencer said while the break in disrupted the business — including temporarily disabling phone lines — he’s thankful to a local farmer who’s quick thinking helped recover the cars not long after they were taken.
“The offenders got into our key safe and then stole the vehicles,” he said.
“We put a Facebook post up on Tuesday morning to let our customers know what happened because some of our IT equipment was also stolen, so our phones and computers weren’t working.
“A savvy farmer on the other side of Clunes had seen our post and was out on his header that morning when he noticed some irregular activity with a couple of vehicles at an intersection near his paddock. He messaged us and we realised it was our cars.
“We got the location and called the police who attended and eventually we got the cars back.
“Without that farmer seeing our Facebook post, they’d still be looking for the cars. It was a bit of luck.”
Police are making enquiries to locate the offenders.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au/report-a-crime